Page 96 of Magic Betrayed

That, of course, turned my heart into a squishy little ball of warmth and happiness, and I had to hide my face in his shoulder to conceal my delighted blush.

Somehow, we made it through the back door of The Portal with him carrying me. Despite my protests that I could walk, he didn’t set me down until we reached the main room, where Emberly took one look at us, went wide-eyed with shock, and turned resolutely back to her computer screen.

And we were none too soon. A few moments later, Chesney and the others appeared at the front door, followed shortly after by Shane, Kes, and Ethan. Ethan was conscious and walking, but seemed dazed, and sat when Kes suggested it.

The atmosphere was tense, but quiet, until Faris finally returned with Kira at his heels. She shot me and Callum a pointed look before mouthing “Ari is with Hugh,” and sitting down at the bar.

“Is this everyone?” she asked briskly, looking around the room as Emberly quietly picked up her laptop and fled.

“Not quite.” Faris glanced at his watch. “But I think we can start without her. I’ll make this simple. You lot”—he surveyed the five elementals—“screwed up. You screwed up so hard that I would love to open up this floor and bury you in it, but I won’t, because skeletons in the foundation are bad for business.”

Pretty sure not a single one of us thought he was lying.

“So let’s talk about how you’re going to fix it and what’s going to happen if youevertry something this mind-blowinglystupidon my territory again.”

Chesney jumped to her feet. “I already told you, I won’t apologize. We had everything taken from us, and she”—she pointed a trembling finger at Kes—“was responsible. It’s only right that she fixes it.”

“Are you willfully ignorant or just that selfish and cruel?” Faris returned, his tone leaving little doubt as to which theory he personally believed. “She had no more of a choice than you did, and victim blaming won’t give you your lives back. Stop whimpering and grow up.”

“Go ahead,” Chesney snarled. “Mock and belittle us if that’s what makes you feel better. But you still have your power. You still have respect. Have you ever asked yourself what you would be if you could no longer make the earth move under our feet? Who would respect you then? How many of your family and friends would still claim you, and how many of your enemies would hold back?”

“You seem to think family and friends are all about power,” Kira pointed out. “When the truth is, they’re nothing of the sort. Faris and I aren’t family because I’m a dragon. We’re family because he chose me. He chose me when I had no magic at all.”

“You’ve always had magic,” Chesney retorted scornfully. “And he knew it.”

I could have told her not to waste her breath arguing with a dragon.

“Up until a year and a half ago, the only one who knew I had magic was my aunt,” Kira corrected her. “She gave me a bracelet that suppressed my power, so I thought I was broken. I thought I would never shift, until Draven took the bracelet off.”

This was a part of her story I’d never heard—a bracelet that suppressed magic?

“Do you even hear yourself?” Chesney asked incredulously. “You thought you werebroken. Because you had no magic. So how do you think we feel?”

“Angry,” Faris said coolly, startling everyone in the room. “Helpless. Filled with frustration and doubts. Scared. Defensive. Maybe even grieving.”

His answer seemed to silence them, if only for a moment.

“No,” he continued, “I don’t know what it’s like to be in your place. Not entirely. But I was taken hostage by Elayara for a short time, and during that time, she drained my magic. Locked me up in a cell and rendered me powerless.

“So, yes. I have stared that darkness in the face and wondered what the future was going to hold. Wondered how my life was going to change. Asked myself who would look at me differently, who would turn their backs, and who would take advantage of my weakness.

“That’s why I’m not going to tell you how to live. Or even how to feel. I’m not going to tell you not to be angry. But I am going to draw the line at hurting others in this blind quest to return to the life you thought you’d have.”

Chesney stared back at him, at least some of her hostility now turned to desperation. “Then what do I do?” she pleaded. “What can any of us do if we will never get back what is ours? Tell us, since you seem to think you know.”

“You can come home.”

A new voice whipped my head around, and for a moment, I wondered whether I would need to intervene.

But Talia’s gaze was fixed on her daughter. She’d stopped just inside the door as if unable to move further, unsure of her welcome and yet trembling with the need to hold the child she thought she’d lost. On her face I saw pain, longing, joy, confusion…

“Mother.” Chesney paled, and her frame went rigid. “What are you doing here? You and Faris… You two hate each other.”

“Perhaps we do,” the elemental queen acknowledged. “But that doesn’t matter right now. I love you far more than I hate him.”

The younger woman’s face twisted until I thought she might cry, but she did not, and the words that burst out of her carried all the pain she could not shed with tears.

“No, Mother. Youlovedme! You loved that I was strong. You loved that I had power. That you had a daughter who could carry on your legacy and rule our court. That you would never have to hand your position over to one of your enemies. You loved that I wasjust. Like. You.”

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